Monthly Archives: February 2025

Be Encouraged! It is WELL WORTH any trouble we experience!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
March 01, 2025: SOAP #5567:  Numbers 28-29; Mark 8

SCRIPTURE: Mark (NIV) 8:34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

OBSERVATION:   One cannot accuse Jesus of sugar-coating His call.  He did not promise us a thorn-less rose garden.   He gathered the crowd as well as His disciples to let them know that following Him would be a difficult journey.  

There will be requirements that we would rather not accept.  There may be times when we would rather look the other way or pretend that we do not hear what He telling us to do. 

The wonderful peace and joy in our hearts can be challenged by the ungodly world into which He has sent us.     

APPLICATION:   Following Jesus is not always easy and pleasant—not the way we would choose.  But it is ALWAYS worth it!  And the options are not acceptable.  Like my dad said, “It is worth the sacrifice to follow Jesus!” 

PRAYER:   Lord, the more I know you, the more I love you.  The more I know and love you, the more I am convinced that following you is worth any cross I am called to carry.  Amen. 

Pastor Leon
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Especially when only God is watching!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 28, 2025: SOAP #5565:  Numbers 24-27; 1Corinthians 13

SCRIPTURE:  1Corinthians (NIV) 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

OBSERVATION:   Put prophecy, wisdom and faith in verse 2 and generosity and sacrifice in verse 3 – all on one side of God’s scale.  Then put love as the lone quality on the other side.  It will not be balanced!  What is it about love that makes God give it so much value?  I asked the Lord and He dropped these words in my heart: 

Having prophecy, wisdom, faith, generosity, and sacrifice makes people love you.  Having God’s love makes you love others. 

APPLICATION:   The important thing is not how much others love me, but how much I love others!   It is not about being so “nice” that people love me, it is about being so full of God that I love people, especially those hard to love. 

PRAYER:   Heavenly Father, surely, no one has ever loved you the way you have loved us. I am certain that I have never loved you the way you have loved me.  Holy Spirit, help me grow in loving God.  Help me faithfully express my love to God by loving those around me, not only in the big ways, but especially in the little ways, and when no one is watching but You.  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Serving A Faithful God!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 27, 2025: SOAP #5565:  Numbers 21-23; Mark 6-7

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 6:49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

OBSERVATION:   To me, this verse is a strong indication that they had taken along with them one or two of the left-overs from the earlier dinner. They had in the boat evidence of God’s miraculous provision.  They had in the boat evidence that Jesus could impower them to do as He commanded, after all, it was He who commanded them to feed the 5000, and then He provided the food for them to do so.  It was He who told them to go to the other side, and He would empower them to do so.

APPLICATION:   So often, we need but to look around to find evidence of God’s great intervention in our lives.  In our homes, we have “basketfulls” of left-overs from some previous miracle.  Let’s not let our hearts become “hardened” so that we forget and cannot see what is so obvious.

God told me that my bus driving was over.  He did not say that my living in His provision was over.  As long as I am faithful to do as He directs, I can rest assured that He will continue to provide.  My faith was not in the bus company, my faith was in God.  My faith is still in God.  What He provided through the bus company, He will now provide through another source—probably for the next six months or a year, through the VA as a pension from cancer that is associated with agent orange being used in the areas we traversed in Viet Nam.  When this gets cleared up, God will provide through another means!  That is the way He is.  I am faithful to do as He says; He is faithful to provide and do what is needed for me to complete His assignment. 

PRAYER:   Lord, keep me in step with you, not lagging behind nor running ahead.  May I live and move with an awareness of your wonderful presence.   Amen

Pastor Leon
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The Journey becomes Personalized!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 26, 2025: SOAP #5564:  Numbers 19-20; Psalm 28; Mark 5 Mr 5:37  

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 5:25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. …27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came, and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

OBSERVATION:  Jesus was walking in a large crowd; many people had touched Jesus that day.  They had jostled against him as they walked. 

It was not just being on the same road with Jesus.  It was not just going in the same direction as Jesus.  It was not the way she talked to Jesus!  It was how she touched Jesus.  She touched Him on purpose.  She intended to touch Him.  She had purposed in her heart to touch Jesus.  The journey became personalized to her!     

APPLICATION: It is not just being in a church or being around people who love the Lord.  It is not just hearing others talk about Jesus.   It is when I realize that what is said—what I read—what I hear—is for Leon—it becomes personalized!  The Holy Spirit stirs within me that this is for me.  On February 16, 2025, as the pastor was preaching about seasons, the Lord said to me, “The season for bus driving is over!”  I started planning to finish driving this school year.  Then I heard Him say, “I did not say it was coming to an end, I said it was over!”  The next morning I took actions that showed I understood what God said to Leon. 

I confess my sins; He forgives.  I obey; He provides and meets my needs. Often His answers come as I respond to His word! …sometimes even before! 

PRAYER:   Lord, it is an honor to be your child and a joy to serve you.  To call you “Lord” means that I do what you say.  Living for you is a daily adventure. Amen

Pastor Leon
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Who is in your boat?

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 25, 2025: SOAP #5563:  Numbers 17-18; Psalm 29; Mark 4

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 4:37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

OBSERVATION:   At least three of Jesus disciples were fishermen. (Peter, James and John) Quite probably others were too.  So, as people with knowledge and experience, they knew what a storm could do to a small boat.  They were afraid.  They looked at their environment.  They looked at their boat.  They probably heard fear filled comments of those who were not fishermen.  Surely, they were frantically bailing out the water from the waves breaking over and swamping the boat.  This was a serious situation!   They had every reason to fear.  It would have been unnatural not to fear. 

BUT there was something that could overcome such fear.  Faith!  Not faith in their ability as fishermen, nor faith in people on the shore.  Only faith in Jesus!  …and He was present with them!!!!    He was already in their boat!!! 

APPLICATION:   We all face storms that can swamp our physical bodies, our family relationships, our finances, whatever boat we are in.  We are powerless against them.  We all face trouble that only Jesus can solve. 

Is Jesus in your boat?  You are either in a storm, or a storm will be coming.  We all have faith, but where is your faith?  The object of our faith must be worthy and capable.  Jesus is both!   I invite you to pray with me…

PRAYER:   Lord, I need you in my boat.  You see the things that are beyond my ability.  I place my faith in you to forgive my sins.  Make me clean in my heart and mind.  I set you as the Lord of my life. 

Pastor Leon
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Continuing His Ministry!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 24, 2025: SOAP #5562:  Numbers 14-16; Mark 3

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 3:1 Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone….”

OBSERVATION:   The religious leaders were watching Jesus to see what He would do.  But they were not the only ones watching.  Jesus was watching too.  He saw someone with a need. 

APPLICATION:   Just because people are looking for me to make a mistake, or to do the wrong thing, or to do something they can criticize, I need to focus my attention on doing the right thing.  I need to focus on those nearby with needs.  I need to focus on how I can be a blessing. 

I have been sent into the world as Jesus was sent into the world.  I should do as He did.  He lives inside me and wants to continue His ministry through me. 

PRAYER:   Holy Spirit, guide my gaze to those around me who need a word of encouragement, or a helping hand, or a blessing.  Flow through me.  Lord, may I be your hand extended to a hurting world.  Use me to continue your ministry.  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Living Out My Mission!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 23, 2025: SOAP #5561:  Numbers 12-13; Psalm 90; Mark 2

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 2:16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

OBSERVATION:   The Pharisees prided themselves on keeping the law.  They talked the part and they dressed the part.  It would not be difficult to recognize them on the streets of Jerusalem. 

The people with whom Jesus was eating were just “tax collectors and sinners.”  Religious people need not waste their time.  Oh…, but to Jesus…, they were so much more!  He would die for these people.  They were important to him!   They were valuable.  Jesus was living out His mission.       

APPLICATION:   I need to be careful not to treat people going through hard times, or who disagree with me, as though they have no value.  They need Jesus and Jesus died for them.   I need to love them like Jesus loves them.  How unlike Jesus I am to ignore them or push them away.     

PRAYER:   Lord, people going through hard times need You.  Love them through me.  Help me to see them as you see them.  Through my life, may people be drawn to you and not repelled from you.  Amen. 

Pastor Leon
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A Well-Used Path!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 22, 2025: SOAP #5560:  Numbers 10-11; Psalm 27; Mark 1

SCRIPTURE:  Mark (NIV) 1:2 It is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—3 “a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” 4 And so John came,

OBSERVATION:   Mark begins his gospel telling about John the Baptist who had been prophesied in Isaiah 40.  He was to introduce Jesus.  He was to “prepare the way for the Lord,” What caught my attention was the phrase “make straight paths for him.”  One can travel two ways on a path, so, the path would be a way for Jesus to move to the people, and a way for people to move to Jesus. 

Straight speaks to me of being not crooked and level.  It speaks of easing the journey and being able to look and see what is ahead. 

APPLICATION:   For those who have committed their life to Jesus and invited Him to live in their life as Lord, our lives become a path that Jesus can travel to the people around us.  Our lives also becomes a path that our family and friends can travel to Jesus. 

We should make sure our lives are a straight path to Jesus.  We should remove things that may make Jesus hard to see.  Our lives should provide a “straight” path to Jesus, a path without things that block the view of Jesus.  May people quickly and easily see Jesus in all we do, in every conversation and every action. 

PRAYER:  Holy Spirit, make my life a path that Jesus can easily travel to get to those around me, and that those around me can easily see and get to Jesus.  Lord, may my life be a well-used path between you and those around me.  Amen         

Pastor Leon
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Getting answers!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 21, 2025: SOAP #5559:  Numbers 8-9; Acts 28

SCRIPTURE:  Numbers (NIV) 9:6 But some of them could not celebrate the Passover on that day because they were ceremonially unclean on account of a dead body. So, they came to Moses and Aaron that same day 7 and said to Moses, “We have become unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be kept from presenting the LORD’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?”
8 Moses answered them, “Wait until I find out what the LORD commands concerning you.” 9 Then the LORD said to Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelites:…

OBSERVATION:   This verse indicates the level of relationship Moses had with God. He would meet with God. He would ask God about this matter.  God would answer.  Moses would get back to these people with the answer.

Moses had a history of speaking to God.  Moses was confident that God had made him the leader.  He knew he was responsible for leading these people, but he also knew that direction could only come from the Lord.  His reply indicates that he believes God had an answer for this problem and that God would tell it to him.

APPLICATION:   I have often responded to people, “Let me pray about this matter and see if God will give me an answer.”  How weak my response is compared to Moses!

When we know God made us leaders, or God gave us children, or God made us to be a pastor or teacher or God put these neighbors or fellow workers near us, then we can trust Him to provide answers.  Let your children know that you will take their questions to God and get back to them with His answer. 

PRAYER:   Lord, as I step out in faith to be what you have given me to be—a parent, a pastor, a teacher, a friend—I look to you for direction.  You already know my limitations, and I am becoming more aware that you have no limitations, except my unbelief.  I trust your love and your wisdom.  Amen

Pastor Leon
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Preparing for the next assignment!

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Pastor Leon’s SOAP:  Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer
February 20, 2025: SOAP #5558:  Numbers 7; Psalm 23; Acts 27

SCRIPTURE:  Acts (NIV) 27:3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. 4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

OBSERVATION:   Paul was traveling as a prisoner by ship from Jerusalem to Rome.   As they were taking a short break from the sea, Paul was allowed to spend time with some friends.   When the break was over, they picked up the journey where they had left off, back out at sea. 

APPLICATION:   While in high school, I played two sports, basketball and football.  Football (not soccer but American style football) was my favorite.  One reason I enjoyed playing football more than basketball was the huddle!  After each play, it was time to relax as we received the plan for the next play.  However in basketball, it seemed to me that we never stopped, that is until the coach called a time out.  

Thank the Lord for breaks!  Thank the Lord for safe harbors in which I can stop for a rest.   I know I will have to pick up and go again, but the pause refreshes and I can refocus.  As ten days ago, the Lord told me my season for bus driving is over, I am now in a break time. 

NOTE:  In visiting a sick friend, perhaps one in the hospital, I may be able to provide a needed break from their thoughts being stuck on their obvious problem.  I may be able to help them refocus on their priority.  Through a scripture and prayer, through a short time of fellowship, God can use me to lift the eyes of their heart to the LORD!  His Presence brings refreshing and healing.  He is like a sip of cool refreshing water. 

PRAYER:   Lord, thank You for the “breaks” You have placed in my life.  Like a wise basketball coach, You call time-outs at critical times. Help me to take full advantage of these breaks to enjoy Your presence and refocus on why You have me here.  Prepare me for the next assignment.  Amen. 

Pastor Leon
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